Kabelo Maswanganyi Set for Move to Asian Club

Orlando Pirates are bracing for the exit of another star, with Kabelo “Tito” Maswanganyi believed to be on the verge of a move to an unnamed Asian Football Confederation club.

The 28-year-old playmaker, a driving force in the Buccaneers’ recent resurgence, is understood to be close to sealing the switch after talks between Pirates and the mystery AFC side reached an advanced stage.

The clearest sign came in Polokwane.

Maswanganyi was nowhere to be seen at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium as Pirates edged Sekhukhune United 1–0 in the first leg of their semifinal, veteran Deon Hotto grabbing the only goal. After the game, coach Abdeslam Ouaddou confirmed there was no injury keeping Tito out. That admission lit the transfer talk on fire.

Pirates snapped up Maswanganyi from SuperSport United in 2023 and he hit the ground running. He quickly turned into a fan favourite, knitting attacks together and delivering in big moments as the Soweto giants finally ended their long league-title drought last season, wresting the crown from Mamelodi Sundowns for the first time since 2012.

For a while, it looked like the champions had done their major business already. Relebohile Mofokeng, the reigning Footballer of the Year and the face of their title charge, had been sold to Belgian top-flight side Union Saint-Gilloise shortly after the FIFA World Cup. Losing another key figure so soon felt unlikely.

That assumption is now being ripped up.

The club have already confirmed the departure of right-back Deano van Rooyen after two years in black and white. Maswanganyi, who had featured in every fixture this season before the trip to Polokwane, now appears to be next in line for the exit door.

If the deal is completed, it will not be his first taste of life abroad. As a teenager, Tito left the renowned Stars of Africa Academy for Portugal, spending several formative years there before returning home to carve out his name in the DStv Premiership.

On the international stage, he owns four Bafana Bafana caps. His trajectory stalled this year, though, as he slipped down the national-team pecking order and missed out on both the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and the World Cup.

Now, at 28, with a league title behind him and a new frontier in Asia looming, Maswanganyi stands on the brink of another reinvention. The real question is what his departure will strip from Pirates’ champions’ armoury just as they prepare to defend their crown.